Die Zauberkugel wurde zerstört, und die Todesfee Roxane ist verschwunden. In Freistatt scheint endlich wieder Frieden eingekehrt zu sein. Tempus denkt sogar daran, seine wilden Stiefsöhne wieder zum Hexenwall abzuziehen. Doch wer wird dann die Macht in der Diebeswelt ergreifen? Da tritt Chenaya, die Gladiatorin und Tochter der Sonne, auf den Plan: Sie will sich mit den gefürchtetsten Männern von ganz Freistatt verbünden – der Rebellen der Unterwelt. Neue Abenteuer aus der Stadt der Diebe, wo man sich mit Feuer und Flamme der Magie verschreibt, selbst wenn man sich dabei furchtbar die Finger verbrennt.

This is the second, after *Turning Points* (2002), in another series of collections of new stories about the city of Sanctuary, originally the creation of editor Abbey and Robert Asprin in their Thieves' World, now long a setting exploited by a variety of authors. Sanctuary was founded by runaway slaves, hence the name, and remains a refuge for those able to call no other place home--a deadly fate, indeed, for there is no one there to guard one's back. Weapons, wizardry, music--any of these can start something in Sanctuary that only the boldest can finish. Editor Abbey unifies this book with the device of a shipwreck off the coast of Sanctuary, with the stuff looted from it cranking up the...

Санктуарий - город искателей приключений и изгоев общества. Здесь люди и нелюди живут по законам мужества и силы, подлости и коварства. Кажется, что все мыслимые и немыслимые пороки нашли себе пристанище в этой обители авантюристов, воинов и магов - Мире Воров. Добро пожаловать в Санктуарий!

In Lammas Night a young weaver of spells is persuaded to bide a while in a small village, to make their village spells and keep the Dark at bay. As part of their persuasion, the villagers have given her the house of her predecessor. Not knowing that his spirit lingers there, she unwittingly breaks the spell that laid him. Now, a half-seen phantom courts her. He is either her lover for all time, the only she will ever know- or a wicked spirits' seeming, the aim of which is to entrap her in a fate unspeakable. Will she call him to her or banish him forever? Now is the time of choosing, the Witching on Lammas Night. Magic Dark and Light are in perfect balance. She begins the casting of her...